By The Flicker of a Candle
by plentysaid
Summary: Aria and Ezra need to discuss some things...


_A/N: So, this is a little short story based on something that happened to me quite recently. Thought I'd share it with the world. Hope you all enjoy it!_

Had it have been any other night, Ezra wouldn't have minded the entire apartment block having a power outage. But tonight, he was supposed to make a romantic meal for Aria, they were supposed to talk about everything that had gone wrong recently, his disappearing act to New York, and if things went according to plan, they'd be watching her favourite film, curled up on the sofa, she'd have her head on his chest and he would run his fingers through the ends of her hair, rest his cheek on her head, inhaling the fruity smell that was Aria.

That wouldn't happen tonight, though. He'd have to cancel. He didn't have any lights, he didn't have any means of cooking. He cursed himself for getting an apartment with an electric cooker. He was grateful that it was still light outside, he could just about see around the dark apartment. He picked up his phone and sucked on his lip, 'one unread message' popped up on the screen. From Aria. He bit his lip when he read the text, 'Going to be an hour earlier, see you then.x' he cursed and put his phone down. She'd be here soon and he couldn't do anything to make the apartment seem more habitable. He threw himself on the couch and looked around. He had one flashlight to his name and that was probably in a box at his storage locker.

Candles.

He sharply made his way to his bathroom and knelt in front of the sink, opening the cupboard that was hiding all the pipes. He had candles. He'd never used them before, since he had moved in, he hadn't needed to because nothing like this had happened, and, well, he had never had to use them for romantic reasons either. He set them out over the coffee table and put a few on the kitchen counters, spreading them out to make it look a little lighter. He started lighting them and looked around. It would have to do, he thought to himself.

He finished tidying up the papers he was grading last night as there was a timid knock on the door. He opened it slowly and stares at Aria. Every time he saw her, she took his breath away. She wore a pair of skinny white jeans, a bright red and white flowery top, her hair swept over her shoulder; he sucked on his lip and opened the door more.

"You look amazing, Aria," he breathed, in the dim light; he saw the blush hit her cheek. "I apologise for the erm… Lighting. The power's out in the building." Aria chuckled and sat on the sofa, looking at the candles, Ezra's breath caught in his throat as the flame reflected in her eyes, she was more beautiful by candlelight.

"It's okay. It's nice with the candles. We still need to talk, don't we?" She said quietly, watching him. It was what was on both of their minds, but they really didn't want to discuss anything. All Ezra wanted was to scoop her into his arms and cuddle her. He supposed that would have to wait, though.

"Aria," he breathed, perching on the arm of the armchair, staring at her. "I care about you deeply; you know that, don't you?" He didn't wait for her to answer before he carried on. "I mean, I really care for you. More than I have cared about anyone in a long time. When I went to New York, I meant it when I said that I was looking for a place to teach away from here. Honestly, I hoped that we'd stay together for a bit, but it would become so hard for us, we'd have to break up. Then you'd be able to see whomever you wanted, and I would pretend that I wasn't so... That it didn't hurt not having you in my life, but when I saw you with Noel, it... It made me angry that you were with someone else, that you were moving on and I couldn't move on like that. I can't ever move on.

You've changed my life completely, you made... You made sense of a lot of things. I can't lose you. I really can't. Please don't let me lose you," he whispers.

Aria rolled her eyes, she leant in and kissed his cheek slowly. "You know that you are a very stupid man, Ezra? I don't want to lose you. You're the one person that is keeping me sane right now. I just want you, okay? I really do. Please, let's just... Forget about what happened? You going off on your trip – just disappearing hurt, I couldn't deal with it, and Noel... He was there, I was lonely, it felt nice that there was someone that wanted me." She said quietly.

Ezra pulled her close and held her tightly, he hated hearing that painful undertone in her voice, he hated that he had caused that, and all he wanted was to keep her close – keep her safe from harm. Aria was fragile, and he knew that, but he kept on breaking her into shards. Her body was so tiny, she curled up instantly, sat on his lap, her head nestled deep into his chest.

"It'll still be there, though, every time that I have to look at him, every time I see his name fly across my desk, the fact that you and he..." He shook his head, he was being unreasonable. "Sorry," he mumbled and kissed her hair. "I shouldn't have said anything." Simply, Aria shook her head and smiled weakly at him.

They both stared at the candles and fell into silence, they'd get past it, but only just. He knew that they could never go back to how they were, but they'd somehow become stronger.

"Ezra?" Aria asked after a while, her fingers had been playing with his shirt, at one point unbuttoning one of the buttons and doing it back up. "You should have candles out more often," she smiled, a pang hit his heart. He loved this girl more than he cared to admit.

"I should, shouldn't I? But maybe only on special occasions," Ezra mused and closed the space between their faces and kissed her nose softly, his hand cupping the back of her head as he slid his lips down to hers, kissing her slowly, he stared at her eyes, burning with the same passion that his were but with naivety, trepidation over her features. Ezra pulled back, he took a breath and kissed her lightly, watching her, giving over all power to Aria. It was all about her tonight, anyway.

Aria stared at him, her hand ghosting over his jaw, feeling him shiver against her, he bit his lip and Aria chuckled, kissing him slowly. "Let's stay like this," she whispered, holding onto him tighter, her lips ghosting over his.

"Let's not let anything ruin this moment," she breathed, kissing him again, this time harder, with desperation, Ezra was happy to kiss her with the same desperation. He needed this girl, he needed her so very much. He longed for time to freeze and this moment to last.


End file.
